


The Girl From The Real World

by apoculypse



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, Canon Divergence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Mentions of Suicide Attempts, Multi, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Not from the serum but from her fall, OC has powers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-08 09:53:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6849601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apoculypse/pseuds/apoculypse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If you fell down a hole and woke up to find yourself in a fictional world, you'd be just like me.... except, less awesome." </p><p>When Rey falls down a glowing hole in her backyard, she doesn't expect to wake up in a fictional world. And she definitely doesn't expect to be taken captive by a fictional group of Neo-Nazis. But what's most shocking is the fact she's got wings scarred onto her back and she's now a part of the story.</p><p>She's given super soldier serum that's supposed to make her strong, like Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Except, all it does is make her a bit faster and a teeny bit stronger. Still, she's deemed ready for battle, and is soon thrust into the life of an assassin, alongside long-time POW, Bucky Barnes.</p><p>After the events in D.C., she and Bucky escape captivity and are on the run. For a year, the two live in the shadows while evading Hydra and Steve Rogers, who are both trying to find them. Unfortunately, after a run-in with the Black Panther, the former assassins find themselves in the company of the Avengers, and they're given a chance at a normal life.</p><p>Unbeknownst to them, of course, something bad is on the horizon. And no one will be prepared for when it finally comes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rey is portrayed by Alycia Debnam-Carey, but as her role as Commander Lexa on the CW show, "The 100." I imagine her to typically look as Lexa does in season two, more specifically episode 2x10, "Survival of the Fittest." 
> 
> I only own Rey Dameron and her storylines. Everything else pretty much belongs to Marvel. Those lucky bastards.

_She knew that her day would probably end horribly. But that didn't mean she wasn't playing the optimist._

    Rey came back from her last class of the day, driven home by the city bus, and planned on taking a well-earned nap. 

    She found her cats in her room; the two twitching tails peeping out from underneath her dark curtains gave them away. She set her bag down next to her bed, crouching down and reaching out for them. Rey gave an soft coo as she stroked the smaller cat's fur, then pulling back the curtains so she could peer out with them. 

    To her surprise, just a little beyond the small wooded entrance in her backyard, she made out a thin beam of bright golden light. Her overtly curious nature took over, and Rey decided she would go investigate.

     She made her way outside, pushing branches aside and avoiding poison ivy as she did, even though she had boots and skinny jeans on, which meant it couldn't possibly hurt her, she couldn't help it. She'd been doing it since she was a little girl, and it was a habit she couldn't really ever break.

    Rey found the source of the light near the riverbed, about half a mile back from her home. It was shaped like a perfect circle, and was dark and seemingly bottomless, with a golden colored light shining from around the edges. For some strange reason, Rey felt like it was calling out to her, beckoning for her to come closer, closer, closer...

      She hadn't realized she had been moving towards it until it was too late. Rey went down headfirst, falling quickly into darkness.

 _Like in Alice in Wonderland,_ she'd thought, almost humorously,  _except there's no white rabbit and no crazy man with a tea fetish._

     She didn't know how long she'd been falling. It seemed like forever, but logically, she knew it couldn't have been _that_ long. A bright light was growing bigger and bigger, which meant she was getting closer and closer to the ground. Before she could even think about bracing for impact, she was met with the cold, hard ground. 

   Fortunately, she blacked out before she hit the ground. But unfortunately, that didn't mean the landing hadn't injured her.

* * *

_  
It was cold when she woke up._

     It was bright out, despite the clouds hiding the sun. Her clothes and hair were starting to freeze, and her entire body ached.

     Panic settled into her bones as she recalled what had happened. Rey tried to get up, but her body screamed out in pain and she stilled, waiting before trying to sit up right. But she couldn't, so she stayed lying on the ground.

She had been so focused on her pain that she hadn't realized that someone had snuck up on her.

          Two figures stood over her. Fear raced through her veins as the figures hoisted her up and carried her off. Rey started to struggle, but could barely move without feeling like she’d caught aflame.

            She could faintly make out a dark shape ahead of her, maybe a building? It seemed to resemble a compound she’d seen in a film or something similar. She was too tired to rake her memories to be sure.

            Rey was brought inside, only to be strapped down onto a stretcher and rolled into a bright room. She couldn’t really see anything, but she figured it had to be some sort of medical place. It reminded her of a hospital, with cold, cold air reeking of a mix of harsh chemicals and some type of metal.

       Someone started to work on her, but she kept fading in and out of consciousness that she couldn’t tell what they were doing. She thinks she heard a Russian accent, but she couldn’t be sure, since the only Russian she’d ever heard was on some shitty TV show.

      The last thing she can remember is a needle pressed into her thigh and heat making its way through her bloodstream. It wasn’t burning, as she surprisingly realized, no, it was comforting in an unusual way. She’d felt her body shifting, almost like it was starting to heal itself, and, before she could gather a clear thought, her senses started to fade out, luring her back into unconsciousness. Almost ironically, her hearing was the last to go, which is one of the main reasons why she woke up hours later kicking and screaming.

In her dreams, the doctor’s voice had taken on a body of it’s own and his words had haunted her until she woke.

_“This time of darkness has ended! Our light has returned, showing the nonbelievers that the gods have sanctioned our cause! Cut off one head and two more shall take its place! Hail Hydra!”_


	2. Chapter 2

_She wakes up screaming. She tries to run, but finds that her arms and legs chained to a hospital bed._

   It's like a horror movie, she thinks, one that's set in some abandoned asylum. Rey can't see anyone, but somehow, she knows they're there. She’s not sure how, but she thinks she can hear people walking around.

   Her body has healed of all its wounds. She doesn’t know how it happened, but it’s of little importance at this very moment. The matter at hand is where she is and she could possibly escape from it. Rey yanks at the chains, trying to free herself from them. Eventually, she stops trying to pull the chains off and starts to cry out for someone to help her. She screams and screams for what seems like hours, but nobody comes. No matter how loud she gets, no one comes to silence her. She almost laughs.

   After hours of staying quiet and waiting, Rey eventually grows tired. She comes to the conclusion that she must not be _that_ important to them, since they hadn’t come for her yet, so she could just go back to sleep with little worry of anything possibly happening. So she does. In any case, it’s not like Rey could do much else. 

* * *

 

      Rey wakes up in a bed. Her arms are freed, but there's still a heavy metal cuff wrapped around both of her ankles. She lets out a shaky breath, trying to figure out what the hell is happening to her. She only gets a minute of peace, because the same voice she heard earlier speaks again.

     "Что ты такое?"  _What are you?_

    She turns her head towards them, way too quickly, which causes her to let out whimper. Tears rush to her eyes, because she's afraid, confused, and really just wants to go home.

    It's a man, slightly older, with reddish hair and cold, calculating eyes. He is sitting in a chair, dressed in a nice suit, dark blue colored, with no wrinkles or stains. He reminds her of a modern day king, or possibly a lawyer. There’s too much going on in her head for her to figure out which.

   The man watches her, with a facial expression that remains blank and emotionless. He doesn't say anything. He just watches.

   She thinks she’s paralyzed with fear. Rey wants him to break his gaze, wants him to leave and never come back, but he doesn't. He just sits and he watches. A scream crawls up her throat and threatens to escape her lips. She struggles to swallow it back down.

   After a while, he speaks. "What are you?" He asks, this time in English, which, a part of her is thankful for. But she's too afraid to respond. So she just stares, focusing on a section of the wall behind him, trembling violently as he continues to watch her.

  He doesn't say anything else. He just stands and walks out of the cell she'd been placed in. Guards she hadn't known were there shut the door. The locks click automatically. Rey thinks she’s finally safe.

  Unfortunately for her, she was wrong.

   "Freeze her,” the man says, pausing at a doorway a few feet away from the cell. "She's going to be useful to us someday."

   Rey doesn't know what it means, and it causes her to panic. The doors unlock and the guards that weren’t standing in front of the door come towards her.

   The scream she swallowed back earlier makes its return, and this time she doesn’t fight it. The moment it escapes her lips, the two guards that were coming towards her fly backwards. Then everything starts moving way too fast for her to process, and once she catches up she finds that four different guards had rushed in and were now leading her towards a different containment unit.

   Rey struggles violently as they drag her towards a different containment unit, but the men are much stronger than she is. It doesn’t help that her screaming had taken a lot out of her.

   She’s placed onto a metal chair and her limbs are strapped tight against it. The men move back just as a hazy plastic-looking wall starts coming down. Icy cold air blasts out from somewhere she can’t see. 

  The last thing Rey remembers is hearing her own scream being cut off midway.


	3. Chapter 3

**_ EIGHT YEARS LATER _ **

    Rey should be used to this by now.

 _Thaw, kill, wipe, freeze. Thaw, kill, wipe, freeze. Thaw, kill, wipe, freeze_.

    The wipes never fully work on her. She almost always remembers bits and pieces, but she plays the fool. She knows what happens if she disobeys. She's been through it too many times now to not.

    When she landed in this world, she was given a pair wings scarred onto her back. She found it ironic, really. She'd discovered them a week after her first wipe. They always burned whenever she was being refrozen.

    Rey worked alongside the Winter Soldier. He was somewhat familiar to her, which caused her trust in him to grow fairly quickly. It worked well in both Hydra’s favor and her own. She cared for him, which meant that he was often used as leverage to get her to do whatever Hydra wanted.

    While wasn't as good as he was, she was better than most. She used knives, big or small, to get the job done. They didn't give her guns, because they didn't completely trust her with them. Ever since Rey had ripped out the throat of an agent during training, she was kept under high watch whenever she had any kind of a weapon. But since she doesn’t remember ripping out the agent’s throat, she just thinks they don’t trust her. Which she finds funny, since she doesn’t exactly trust them either.

    She and the Soldier were muzzled on every missions, but despite this, the two somehow managed to create a way of communicating by using just looks. They understood each other, and no matter how many wipes they both went through, their bond was still there.

    In her new and harsh reality, the Winter Soldier had been the only person in her world to show her a smidgen of kindness.

    They trained together when they weren't frozen. It was almost always silent, the only noises that could be heard was the sound of one of them being hit, or attacks being blocked. Sometimes, if they were lucky, they could train with knives. Rey loved the sound that they made when they hit their target.

    She vaguely remembers her first kill. It was an ambassador for some small country. He had begged and pleaded for his life, but she had killed him anyway. It hadn't felt good. Her hands shook all the way back to the base. It was one of the only times Rey was ever truly _glad_ to be wiped and frozen.

    Hydra doesn't know her name. She refuses to tell them, no matter how much torture they inflict. It's the only thing that she truly has left, and she'd rather die than give it away.

   Which is why she's usually addressed as ' _Girl_ ' or ' _the Angel_.' 

    In the beginning, all she felt was pain, pain so overwhelming that she was sure she had died and gone to hell. But as time passed, Rey forced herself to become numb, to feel nothing at all in order to survive. She became a ghost with a barely beating heart, existing solely to be a killer for her deranged captors.

_The end justifies the means._

   Rey had to try to remind herself this daily. In the beginning, she’d told herself to do anything she had to if it meant surviving to the next day. She’d even carved it into the inside of her left thigh, with letters all capitalized and shaky. She had been moving quickly, not wanting to be caught by anyone. She’d known it would've ended badly for her if she'd been caught. Insufferable torture would be inflicted, but it wouldn't end in death. It  _never_ ended in death.

   Rey thought about how easy it would be to be dead while she sat in the car that was delivering her and the Soldier back to the base. They had completed a mission, one that took a mere half hour to do. It had been a success for them, and the blood that was staining her hands could attest for that. The muzzles were off of the both of them, but the car is still unnaturally silent. It bothers her. Silence had always bothered her.

   "Who are you?" The Soldier suddenly asks, with a voice that's slightly hoarse from underuse. It startles her, but she doesn’t show it. That could be considered a weakness, and weaknesses were dangerous. "What's your name?"

   Rey glances at him out of the corner of her eye. She doesn’t find it surprising that he’s asked. They've talked, verbally, before; simple exchanges about missions or training. His voice was deep, and smooth, despite not being used very often. She'd grown quite fond of his voice over time.

_That's because we're both quite familiar with each other's screams._

   She could tell him. She really could.  Out of everyone, she only trusts him. But her name is the only thing that's  _hers_. Even if she barely remembers what it is. Or was _._ Everything was so confusing now, soit wouldn't be selfish for her to keep this a secret, would it?

   She decides that it's not selfish, and even if it was she doesn’t care. She tells him a name, one she thinks she had liked beforehand. "Rey." She says, keeping her gaze forward, "My name is Rey Dameron."

   He grunts in response, and then it's silent again.

    Rey closes her eyes. It's completely black, like an endless void. She wants to be there, she concludes. She wants to fade away until she’s nothing, not even a thought. In her old life, that would be considered destructive behavior. But in this new life, it would be considered something good.

    After all, she had become a monster, and monsters deserved to fade away into nothingness.

    The car stops, and then it’s a blur of figures and shapes as she’s debriefed and then refrozen.

    As she fades into the frozen comatose state, Rey can swear she's smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rey's name comes from two characters from the new Star Wars film. (Fun fact about this story, Rey was originally going to be portrayed by Daisy Ridley, though her look eventually did evolve into Alycia.) As for the last name, Dameron just fit better than anything else I could come up with. It was originally a filler, but I couldn't figure out anything else that sounded better.
> 
> Final note, Rey's "wings" look exactly like Helena's from Orphan black, except they're not as fresh. (Think of them like old, semi-healed scars.)


	4. Chapter 4

**_ TWELVE YEARS LATER _ **

   Rey woke up to soft, nearly silent footsteps. In twenty years of her captivity, she'd learned how to distinguish the different echoes the hall produced. But these footsteps were slightly foreign to her.

_Five, four, three, two..._

    The heavy door of her cage opened, as if on cue, as she sat up, and the man with the suit stood in front of her. At least four guards were visible to her, but she knew there were more nearby. They weren't  _that_ stupid. Unfortunately.

    Alexander Pierce was not a nice man. She'd known that for a long time. Even though he looked and acted kind, he was truly a demon.

_Look like an innocent flower..._

    He crouches down so his face is almost parallel to hers. A smile graces his face, but it wasn't even slightly human. If Rey could feel it, she would have been scared shitless. "You're needed for a very special assignment."

    He says nothing more. He didn't need to. She's gotten the point.

    When he exits the cell, she speaks up. "One day, you're going to regret caging me."

    He laughs. He actually fucking  _laughs,_ and causes a small growl to grow inside the back of her throat.

   "Have 83 get her ready." He says, not even turning to face her

    He's long gone by the time the guards have managed to stop her from fighting back.

* * *

   The Winter Soldier was sent out first, already looking very beaten down, despite just starting their mission. Rey waited for a few moments until she was sure he’d cleared out, then hurrying out and into the fray She unsheathed her katana, slicing at anyone who came her way.

   Rey wasn't as worn down as he was, and she wasn’t exactly sure why. Something felt different.

   She had immediately registered that they were still in D.C. In her world, her home was an hour away. Now, she wasn't sure if she had a home anymore. She probably didn't.

  While the Soldier was off to completing his mission, Rey started taking out any of the agents who came her way, no matter which side they were on. Her mission was to take out any SHIELD agent that got in HYDRA’s way. To Rey, that translated to _kill anyone who got in her way._ She'd cleared out most of the south section, and was heading towards clearing out the west, but something inside of her told her to get to the riverbanks. It felt familiar. It felt right.

   So she acted on it.

   Rey snuck around the back of some shipping containers, sheathing her katana, while quietly approaching a small herd of HYDRA agents. She crept behind one man, gripping onto a small knife her hands and readied to slit the man's throat. But she quickly turned around, facing the agent who was sneaking up on her, letting the knife fly, watching with a slight sadistic glee as the knife hit the man in the throat.

   She moved quick, pulling out her katana once more and slicing into the oncoming agents. They went down faster than she would have liked.

  She collected her knives, not feeling the need to check if they were dead or not. The cuts she inflicted were pretty deep, which meant if they weren't dead now, they would be in two minutes tops.

  Yanking her 'muzzle' off, Rey leapt off of a small ledge, landing gently on the ground behind an abandoned truck. She started to put the katana back, but stopped before muttering small string of swears.

   Two of planes were enflamed and falling.

   She hurried over to the riverbank, where she could get a clear view of what was happening. But once she got there, a wave of panic washed over her.  The last helicarrier was enflamed and falling apart. Rey saw a blue man falling, and the Soldier falling behind him.  She had to bite back a scream when he hit the water.

   She waited. She didn't know what to do next. She could run, but she knew she couldn’t survive all alone; she didn't know this world, and, as much as she’d hate to admit, she wasn't strong enough by herself.

   A wave of relief washed over her when she saw a mop of dark hair surface near the shoreline. He was alive, the Soldier was alive, and he was dragging the other man along with him.

  Rey shakily rushed forward to help, only to be waved off. The Soldier dragged the man onto the riverbank, leaving him lying on his back, half unconscious.

  Rey stared at the man on the shore, trying, and failing, to recognize him. He was blond, and looked a little too pale to be considered alive. His uniform was mostly blue, with red and white stripes on the stomach, and a white star in the center of the chest. It reminded her of the Puerto Rican flag. She’d been there once. She wore a dress when she killed the man named Horatio.

  The Soldier grunted, knocking her out of her thoughts. He started to head away from the man, so she followed quickly behind him. The two kept moving until they were deep into a wooded area, only stopping once to cut out the tracker chips inside the both of them. They kept on until it was too dark to continue. It was then that Rey finally had the chance to ask him what had been on her mind throughout their entire walk.

   They were sitting next to each other, hiding up in an abandoned hunting blind as they waited for the light to return. She gave him a questioning look, and he didn’t have to question what she wanted to know. Somehow they knew each other too well.

  After a long period of silence, the Soldier answered her silent question. “I think I knew him. "

  Neither of them said anything else after that. There wasn’t much else to say anyways.

  Rey focused her attention on the sounds of the crickets chirping away. She felt the Soldier's flesh hand messing with the end of her braid. It was almost comforting.

   The two of them would stay in the woods for a while, she decided, and then head for the next place they could stay safe. They could survive, but they needed to keep moving. If they kept moving, no one could find them.

  The next morning, when they were deep enough in the woods, they started to run. And they never stopped.

 


	5. Chapter 5

_FIVE MONTHS LATER_

Rey always loved campfires. She loved being near them, loved watching the smoke curl up and away, and she loved feeling the warmth they gave off. It felt like happiness to her.

Tonight's was different. She wasn't out with her family; joking around and making marshmallows perform ritualistic sacrifices. She was a world away from all of that, she had realized as she sat across from her fellow brainwashed assassin, who had become her closest, and only, friend.

Rey wasn't the same girl she was before all of this.

He had a name. Bucky, he thinks. He's getting a few memories back, very hazily, but still.

She'd written things on her arm. Things she wanted to remember, or things that make her feel something. Her favorite, which had been traced over and over in different colored ink, was an all caps mantra.

_DESTROY WHAT DESTROYS YOU._

It could be interpreted in many different ways. Destroying HYDRA, destroying the life she'd lived while in captivity... But no matter what, it meant that she was going to destroy anything that had or would try to destroy her.

They'd been living on the run for the past five months. Surviving on small game animals or foods that were swiped from trashcans or from open windows. Tonight they were feasting on a raccoon that had been run over. It didn’t taste good, but it was food, and that was all that really mattered to either of them.

Rey had finished her portion of food and was currently chewing on a rib bone, debating on whether or not she should chew it into a shiv, while Bucky tended to the fire. On his left, a few strips of meat hung across a shoelace that spanned in between two small trees. The only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the burning logs and the distant sounds of cars passing on the freeway.

"I miss my sword." Rey mumbles. They’d hidden their weapons and most of their uniforms in a lockbox in Fayetteville. She takes the bone out of her mouth and starts to scratch at the bug bites on her side of her leg. It doesn’t help much, which causes her to let out a small sigh. She can see Bucky crack a small smile out of the corner of her eye.

"We’ll find another." He says, leaning back against the half-sized fallen log that they’d over drug over. He looks over at her, watching as she messes with the now sharpened end of the bone.

They don’t continue the conversation. It wasn’t the topic that needed to be discussed anyways.

"Do you think we can trust him? The man on the bridge?"

Rey is facing him, kyanite green eyes looking directly into his, which is something she doesn’t often do. It takes him a minute, but he realizes that she’s waiting for an answer.

"Yes.” He admits, and he’s glad to say that he means it. “I know him. I mean, I'm sure I know him. I'm sure we can trust him."

"He's looking for you, isn't he?” She asks after a moment of silence, her head tilted to the side. She’s trying to figure something out, he acknowledges. He’s seen her do it many times before. “I'm…. I’m sure he's going to find you eventually. He seems stubborn enough."

Her comment breeds a small smile. A memory of a lanky blonde taking a beating from a group of rowdy boys comes to his mind. Steve, he remembers, was a man who was unstoppable once he set his mind to something. And if he’s still somewhat of the same person he was back then, stubborn would be the perfect word.

“You've got a good point there."

The corners of her lips curl up, but not into a full smile. But for them, it’s enough.

They go silent, both replaying different memories over and over inside their heads. The sound of crickets chirping causes them to come back to reality.

“You should go with him when he finds you.” Rey states, absentmindedly sticking the bone into the side of her boot. “You deserve safety and love and all that other shit."

Bucky looks over at her, taking her in. She reminded him of a puppy that was being scolded for something that they knew they did wrong. It made him feel a little uneasy, seeing her like that. It must be a glimmer of his old self, he supposes. A good man, one who cared so deeply about his friends and his family that it would suffocate him, and he would be alright with that. Nowadays, caring about something meant that you had a weakness. And in the life of a brainwashed assassin, weaknesses were something you did _not_ want to have.

But for some reason, he can’t stop himself from speaking. “Whether you believe it or not, Rey, you do too."

"He won't want me."

"He will."

She looks down at her feet, brows furrowing together. Her head is tilted to the side again, and she’s quiet for a bit. Lost in thought, he realizes.

"What if he doesn't?"

Her comment doesn’t surprise him. Bucky had figured that’s what she would likely reply with. They barely knew each other, but yet, they _knew_ each other. They shared a bond that would be extremely hard recreate. It was strange, and it was good.

"Well, it'll be too bad for him then,” he declared, which causes her to look up at him. “Since we're a package deal."

She laughs, which causes him to laugh as well. It doesn't hurt or make either of them feel guilty. Rey swears she can feel warmth radiating from inside her. She registers that that feeling was hope, something she hadn't felt since long before she fell into this world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm not too good at doing chapter endings. Anyways, there's (maybe) two chapters until the Avengers make their debut in this fic, and I want to apologize for taking too long to get them here. Also, apologies in advance for any OOC-ness. I've never been too good at getting characterization right.
> 
> Alrighty, so... This is the end of the note! Have a good morning/afternoon/day/night! 
> 
> ~ Elizabeth, a.k.a PostLux


	6. Chapter 6

    The two assassins stay rested against the tree until morning, both of them taking turns keeping watch and checking the strips of drying meat while the other rested. By mid-morning, they’d packed up the little supplies they had and started off heading south of the highway. They walk for days, making it through all of North Carolina and most of South Carolina. When she finally has a minute to stop and think, Rey figures that they’re somewhere near the South Carolina/Georgia border, and that they should keep heading south, because of the fact there were mainly rural areas in that direction. Bucky doesn’t argue, since they don’t have any particular place to go.

    They walk until sundown, when they stop and eat a pie that Rey had gotten from inside an open window. They change into the clothes Bucky swiped while Rey had gotten the pie. Bucky’s fit just fine, while Rey’s are a little loose. Rey just decides to keep her uniform pants on and wear the two shirts and the jeans he’d brought for her over them.

   They continue walking through the night, making it to Madison County by morning. They see signs for campgrounds nearby and decide to take advantage of it. The closest campground is nine or so miles away from the small town, Rey discovers. She went into a small convenience store and had asked. She had picked up some food and supplies with the money she’d swiped from the now long dead HYDRA agents. She was a little miffed about spending the money, but she knew it’d be suspicious to go in and not buy anything. Plus, she was tired of eating the jerky they’d made two nights before.

    They eat most of the box of granola bars while they walk. Bucky held a notebook in one hand and would continuously scribble in entries. He’d asked for another notebook when Rey had gone in, and was very quick to swipe it out of her hands and start writing in it when she came back out. She didn’t ask what he was writing. She figured that if it was any of her business, he’d tell her.

  When they reach the campsite, Bucky heads off in search of the farthest cabin he can find, while Rey follows a few feet back, scouting the area for any and all threats. When it’s deemed safe, the two former assassins relax on the tattered couch in the now long abandoned cabin. Rey takes first watch while Bucky rests.

  She finds that it’s too quiet inside, and she gets lost in her thoughts too easily. Memories flood back in, causing her to feel everything and nothing all at once. She sees her mother, smiling and talking to her. Rey can’t make out her voice or her face; it’s been too long since she’s heard or seen her, and the wipes and brainwashings always did have the blurring effect on her memories. The emotional pain resonates in her chest, causing her heart and her breathing to race. She thinks she might have a panic attack.

  So she just stops. Stops thinking, stops feeling, stops everything. She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, quietly reminding herself what is real and what is not. When she feels calm enough, she opens her eyes. It’s quiet again, but it’s okay this time. Rey stares at a stain on the wall until Bucky wakes and tells her it’s her turn to rest.

   When she curls up onto the couch and closes her eyes, sleep comes almost too easily. It helps that her body feels heavy from the weight of all the bad things she’s done in order to stay alive.

  That night, Rey doesn’t dream about anything. It’s the first night of uninterrupted sleep in years. It almost feels good enough to make her forget that she’s a wanted criminal.

   Almost.

* * *

    Bucky’s pacing wakes her up in the middle of her rest. It’s dark, but with her enhanced senses, she’s able to make out his bulking figure moving back and forth. The fact that he’s pacing causes her to tense up. He doesn’t usually pace.

   Something must be wrong.

  Rey gets up instantly, creeping over to the windows and doing a quick surveillance check. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, and that sets her on an even higher alert. The feeling of Bucky’s hand on her shoulder causes her to jump.

  “Jesus Christ!” She yelps, which causes a look of surprise to cross the 90-something-year-old assassin’s face. He hadn’t been expecting her to be frightened.

   “Calm down, little _yenot_.” He murmurs, calling her by the nickname that he’d given her. “No need to panic. I thought I heard someone outside… I was wrong.”

  Rey lets out a sigh, doing quick a quick once-over of the yard. “We need to keep moving.” She slips out of his grasp, scurrying around the room, starting a search for anything that could be useful to them.

  Bucky doesn’t bother arguing with her. It’s better this way. Park rangers might not do patrols as far out as they were, but they’d eventually figure something was up. That’s just how things went in their lives. 

  When they finally do leave, Rey and Bucky are both carrying an extra bag, now making four in total. They go on foot until they reach Commerce, and then continue the trek to Atlanta, their unanimously chosen location, on a bus. Rey had enough money to buy tickets, with some left over, since the distance wasn’t too far.

  It’s mid-morning when they reach Atlanta. The air is humid and Rey can hear Bucky’s arm recalibrating because of the shifted temperature. If she’s calculated correctly, and she’s sure she has, his arm will be in a lower functioning state until it cools itself off.

   She leads the two of them to a diner across from the bus stop. It’s grimy-looking, but the food is super-soldier sized and at a cheap price. They order sandwiches, which are cheap enough that they can order more if they need to.

   When their food arrives, Rey notices that a man in a hat, sunglasses and a leather jacket has been watching them. He’s on the phone, and she focuses her hearing on his conversation.

   “… them. Yeah, I’m sure. Hey, hold up… I think she’s watching me now…”

 

 Rey kicks at Bucky’s leg under the table. He gives her a look, but instead of replying, she starts wrapping up her sandwich in a napkin. Unbeknownst to the man watching them, it was a signal the two of them had come up with.

 Bucky turns slightly, appearing looking over at the diner’s breakfast bar, but Rey knew better. He was checking out the man.

 He faced her again, a small smile gracing his face. “Eat your sandwich, kid.” He chuckled, taking a small bite of his food. “They’ve finally found us.”

   Bucky’s words were loud enough for the man to hear. He stiffens, and Rey can’t help the laugh that escapes her lips. The man starts whispering hurriedly into the phone, shaking his head viciously, as the other voice on the line grew louder and louder.

   “… bad idea, Steve! This is a goddamn bad idea!”

  He doesn’t even get the last words out. The sound of glass shattering, from the glass door being slammed open, cuts him off. The restaurant, which wasn’t packed, falls silent. Bucky turns around, almost too casually, and faces the person now standing in the doorway.

 “ _Bucky_?”

The man he pulled from the river has finally found them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations: yenot - Raccoon (Russian)
> 
> OK, so, if you couldn't tell, Sam and Steve have finally made their debut! Getting them to fit in the chapter was nearly impossible, but I did it! 
> 
> Now the next few chapters will take place in Atlanta, and most of other characters will start to make their debuts in these chapters. My original plan was for everyone to meet up in Atlanta, so I'm going to stick with it.
> 
> Sorry if the format is icky, I'm honestly too lazy to fix it.


	7. Chapter 7

   It takes Rey five seconds to figure out what’s happening.

  Bucky must have known that they were closing in on them. He had to have, since there’s no other explanation on why he’s so goddamned calm about all of this.

   She wants to be pissed at him, she really does, but she can’t bring herself to it.

   In the five seconds that Rey spent figuring everything out, a lot had happened. The diner had cleared out. Bucky had finished off his sandwich and was sitting somewhat calmly in the booth. The man in the leather jacket had gotten up and was trying to talk some sense into the man from the river. And the man from the river was stepping closer and closer to their booth. 

  None of them seem like they’re going to make any threatening moves, so Rey decides to do the only thing she really wants to do; finish her goddamn sandwich.

  “Bucky…” The man from the river is speaking now. Rey thinks she likes his voice. “We’re not going to hurt you. Either of you.”

   Rey scoffs. These men are not a threat to them. No one seems to notice her though.

   Bucky stares at the man. “I know.” 

   The next minute is a flurry of movements and confusion. 

   As soon as he finished speaking, Bucky flipped the table, grabbed the shoulder of Rey’s shirt and ran. He led them towards the back door, pushing it open and yelling out for her to run the other way in Russian.

   He ran to the left, seemingly unaware that Rey was following behind him. She was trailing nearly a foot and a half behind him, even though she was the faster of the two. What she lacked in strength, she made up for in speed.

    If her disobedience bothered him, he didn’t voice it. Bucky could hear Steve running behind the two of them, which caused him to slow ever so slightly. Rey was now a few meters ahead of him.

   Suddenly, she skidded to a stop, but not before she rammed into the side of a black SUV. The impact of the hit, which caused her to leave a nice sized dent in the side of the car, caused her to land a few feet backwards. Bucky noted that she was unconscious before she hit the ground.

   He was by her side milliseconds after she hit the pavement. He could see a few of her bones were broken, but were healing alarmingly fast. She was pretty bruised up, but aside from that, she seemed to be, physically, fine.

   Steve had stopped running the moment Rey hit into the car. He hadn’t wanted anyone to get hurt. He had just wanted to find his best friend.

   Bucky had pulled Rey into his arms. He was patting her cheek, trying to wake her up. There was a black substance dribbling down from her nose and the side of her head. Steve noticed that that didn’t deter his friend.

  The rear window of the SUV started to roll down. Both super-soldiers stiffened at the sound. When the window was fully rolled down, Steve couldn't believe the irony.

   Sitting in the car was none other than Bruce Banner. 

 

* * *

 

 

    After the events in Sokovia, Bruce had fled from the states. He’d called up an old friend in the hopes that he would be able to stay with them. His friend, who had been surprised to hear from him, was kind enough to allow him to stay as long as he needed.

   It had been three months since that call, and Bruce was now a notable figure in Wakanda’s medical scene. 

   He had met T’Challa during one of his annual medicine trips to New Delhi. For some odd reason, the two become fast friends. After the Chitauri Invasion, Bruce had tried to keep in contact with the prince at least twice a month. Unfortunately, other things happened, and the two hadn’t spoken for months. Which is why T’Challa had been surprised to take Bruce’s call.

    Nonetheless, the people of Wakanda had welcomed Bruce into their country.

   Now, he was happily assisting the prince of Wakanda with an issue with the Drozdov antidote that the CDC was attempting to create. A problem had been resolved, which meant Bruce and T’Challa had some time to waste while the antidote went through testing. Since it was still pretty early in the morning, they had decided to do a late breakfast at a little café nearby their hotel. Driving there was the easiest option, since the CDC was ten or so blocks from their hotel.

  They’d barely left the gated entrance when a small figure crashed into the side of their car.

  The security team that was always nearby went into a frenzy. Orders were barked out, and Bruce couldn’t stop himself from rolling down his window.

   He was genuinely surprised to see his teammate, and friend, Steve Rogers standing nearby.

   Bruce gave Steve a small wave, then turned to T’Challa, who had just finished giving his security team new orders.

   “So, I think we’re going to have to take a rain-check on breakfast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so originally, this chapter was going to be super long, but it cut off half of it so I would have two chapters instead of one. (my word count was near two thousand, I believe.)
> 
> so, the black stuff on rey's face is her blood. there's going to be an explanation for that in the next chapter. 
> 
> anyways, the next chapter will probably be up tomorrow. hope you enjoyed, even though there's not a ton of dialogue! 
> 
> xx, PostLux.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I lied. I didn't post this the next day, because I had to rewrite the ending. AND, I didn't mention anything about Rey's blood like I said I would. I'm just a mess. So, please enjoy this chapter.

Steve wasn’t surprised when Natasha showed up in one of Tony’s modified SUVs. He figured Sam, who had watched the whole thing unfold from the skies above, called her in as backup.

The girl had been unconscious for twenty minutes before Nat arrived. Both Steve and Sam had tried to convince Bucky to let Bruce check her out, but he wouldn’t let him near her. Though he did allow Bruce to hand him a first-aid kit. Super-soldier or not, she could still be severely affected by infected wounds. He had finished cleaning off the girl’s nose when the redheaded woman arrived.

Natasha parked in front of the other SUV. She leaves the car running as she gets out, greeting Steve with a forced smile.

“I’ve got access to one of SHIELD’s safe-houses nearby.” She explains, holding up a triangular shaped keycard. “Wanda, Vision and Stark are back at the compound. I didn’t tell them what happened here.” 

She walks away before he can respond.

Bucky stands beside him, holding the girl in his arms as he does. Natasha rallies everyone else into the vehicle. Steve climbs into the back, which was a bit more spacious since a row of seats had been put down. Bucky climbs in behind him. 

The doors are closed and the car starts to move. 

They sit beside each other. The car isn’t silent, but it’s not loud either. Sam is talking with Bruce and his friend. Natasha isn’t saying anything. The radio is low, but he can make out the tune to some country song. Clint must have given Natasha music recommendations again. Steve stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets, tapping his feet on the carpeted floor as he tries to think.

“Her name is Rey.”

Bucky’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts. He’s moved a few inches away, but he’s still close enough that their shoulders brush whenever the car hits a bump.

“They called her the Angry Angel.” He continues, and Steve isn’t sure if Bucky’s speaking to him or to himself. “Because they didn’t know her name, and she wouldn’t tell ‘em.”

He almost smiles. Steve takes the chance to lean over and brush the hair away from the wound on the side of Rey’s head. Except, there’s barely any wound there. He doesn’t have time to ask how that was possible, because Bucky continued on with his little story. 

“God, she was so fiery.” He recalls, “Like… Like you, actually. She’s a lot like you.”

The car stops and Sam’s voice keeps Steve from replying.

“This is a safe house? Looks like a damn Lincoln log fort to me…” 

A young woman wearing a white bird-patterned button up opens the trunk. Another woman with long dark hair rolls a stretcher up beside her. They step back, allowing the two of them to climb out.

“Hello, Captain Rogers.” The first woman greets, smiling kindly as she turns to Bucky. “My name is Jemma Simmons, and this is Skye.” At the mention of her name, Skye gives a small wave. “We were called in to help with the young lady.”

As if she was aware of the fact they were talking about her, Rey lets out a groan and shifts in Bucky’s grip. He sets her down onto the stretcher. He looks uncomfortable as Jemma and Skye roll her into the building. 

They watch as the girls disappear into the building. Bucky is still staring at the door that they went into, almost like he was waiting for something to go wrong.

“She’ll be alright.” Steve says, placing a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I know these people. I trust them. They won’t hurt her.”

The former assassin shakes his head. “It’s not her that I’m worried about...” Steve must’ve made a face, because Bucky starts to explain further. “She’s different from us. She’s–”

A piercing scream cuts him off. The building’s windowpanes explode, causing fragments of glass to rain down onto the flowerbeds below. Through the window frames, the super soldiers can see people hurrying towards something.

“That,” Bucky declares, “is what I was worried about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Rey has a sonic scream. I tried to hint to it in the earlier chapters, but I don't think I did a good job. Also, I apologize for the horrible dialogue. I've never been to good with writing dialogue for some reason.
> 
> Little note, the Avengers know Coulson is alive, and they've worked with/had previous meetings with his team before. And while this chapter was sort of from Steve's POV, most of the rest of the story will be told from Rey's POV.


	9. Chapter 9

Rey wakes to find herself drowning in sea of different voices. For a moment, she forgets that she’s no longer a prisoner of HYDRA, and she nearly lets out another scream. Fortunately, before she can, she manages to sort her way through the voices and some of her memories.

"Is everyone alright?" 

For some reason, the voice of Steve Rogers was impossible for her to forget. She swore she remembered something about ‘end of lines,’ but she couldn’t be too sure. She’d have to check her memory book later.

"What the hell was that?"

This was the voice of Sam Wilson, the Falcon. He was in the diner when they’d been found. He had a nice leather jacket on. Rey wondered if she would be able to swipe it from him.

"Whoa."

This voice was unfamiliar. Rey couldn’t place who it belonged to, even with her somewhat extended knowledge of her current world. They didn’t sound scared or angry. In fact, they sounded like they were in awe.

"How did she...? Those were Hulk-proof windows."

This voice took her a moment to recognize. It was Bruce Banner, who she hadn’t noticed before. Then again, she had been unconscious for most of the trip there, so it wasn’t surprising.  
  
"Is she...?"

Again, Rey didn’t recognize this voice. It was hushed, and she could make out an accent, possibly British, but she wasn’t sure. There was something about this voice that relaxed her, that made her feel safe. And she didn’t like it. Not one bit.

"Not likely. There was no reports of anything."

Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. Rey only knows it’s her because it’s the only feminine sounding voice she recognized. Weird.

"Little yenot, can you hear me?"

It’s the last voice soothes her panicked nerves, and causes a feeling of security to settle deep into her bones. She could never forget this voice. His voice. She’d know it anywhere.

  
_Bucky. My Bucky._

"Oh little yenot, why did you scream?" His voice is quiet compared to all the others. She can feel his hand brush her hair back. "I thought you had it under control."

She opens her eyes. Lights are flickering and there's a soft breeze blowing in that causes the shorter pieces of Bucky's hair sway side to side. "'Couldn't help it... I panicked."

  
_My tongue feels heavy. Could somebody get me some water?_

* * *

   The first thing they did, after the cleaned up the aftermath of Rey's scream, was have some doctors look over the both of them. It was not an easy task. Rey would become panicked whenever the doctors came too close or whenever Bucky was out of her line of sight. Bucky, while he was mostly calm, would become fidgety if any type of medicine or serum came close to him. He wasn't as bad as Rey when it came to keeping in line of sight, but the doctors quickly figured that, like her, he was more docile when he was in close range of her.

Most of the major tests came back with positive results. The two were both slightly underfed, nearly extremely fatigued, and were bordering the line of dehydration. Food and rest were not an obvious priority for them, it seemed. The only things that were concerning to the doctors was the sample of Rey's blood, which was black in color, and her resting heart rate, which was calculated to be a normal rate for person suffering from a panic attack.

They also had dentists check their teeth, at the request of one of the doctors, who was still upset about Rey attempting to bite him. (When Rey saw the dentists, she burst into giggles. Apparently, she had a strange sense of humor.) The dentist who checked Bucky was a small woman, about Rey's height, and was very kind. She was the dentist of many of the Avengers, so Steve assured them that she wouldn't hurt them. Bucky's check went fine, not counting the occasional growl and/or hiss from Rey whenever she thought he was in danger. Rey's check, on the other hand, didn't go as well. She panicked when the woman came close to her, which caused Bucky to panic as well. All in all, it was a very bad experience for everyone.

After all the commotion, the former assassins were finally allowed to rest. Steve stayed close to Bucky, mostly to ease the discomfort of pretty much everyone else. Rey didn't seem to pay him much mind, but he noticed that she did like to keep him in her line of sight. Any sudden movements from him, or anyone else for that matter, caused her to stiffen and ready herself for an attack.

Neither of them were allowed anything that could be considered a weapon, which meant they weren't allowed to have mostly anything, thanks to a snide comment from Rey. They’d been given a fresh pair of clothes, but they both refused to change into them. Bucky claimed his current outfit was fine, while the smaller girl had muttered something about sentimental value and itching.

When Tony Stark, Vision and Wanda Maximoff arrived, the former assassins were sat at a table in the center of the room. Both Skye and Steve were trying desperately to convince Rey that SHIELD did not have a secret zombie making facility, while Bucky was munching on crackers, seemingly pleased to not be involved with the conversation.

“What the hell is this?” The billionaire makes his way into the center of the room, catching almost everyone’s attention, while Wanda and Vision linger near the walls. It seems no one had seemed to notice the threesome’s arrival, and the surprise on their faces only confirms it. “Why we weren’t informed that there was a super secret meeting?”

Rey shifts up in her chair, about to make a comment, when Bucky gives her a glare. She huffs, but relaxes her body. She had a really good comment, too.

Natasha slinks by, patting him on the shoulder as she passes him. “Because it wasn’t any of your business.” Unlike the others, she doesn't seem surprised to see them. But even if she was, Rey knows she'd keep it hidden. That's what she does. Or at least, that's what Rey think she does.

The comment from Natasha causes everyone to break out into chatter. Voices overlap one another, growing louder and louder until it’s so chaotically loud that Rey has to cover her ears with her hands. Her nails start to dig into her skull, when a comment comes from the Sokovian witch.

“Why can’t I read her mind?”

 


End file.
